The English Reserve and Politeness 翻译 英语泛读教程 3高等教育出版社.docx

The English Reserve and Politeness 翻译 英语泛读教程 3高等教育出版社.docx

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TheEnglishReserveandPoliteness翻译英语泛读教程3高等教育出版社

参考译文

1.课文一

2.课文二

Text1

TheEnglishReserveandPoliteness

   ItseemstomanypeoplethattheBritishareextremelypoliteanddifficulttomakefriendswith.HopefullythefollowingpassagewillhelpyoutohaveabetterunderstandingoftheBritishcharacter.

   TootherEuropeans,thebestknownqualityoftheBritishis"reserve".Areservedpersonisonewhodoesnottalkverymuchtostrangers,doesnotshowmuchemotion,andseldomgetsexcited.Itisdifficulttogettoknowareservedperson;henevertellsyouanythingabouthimself,andyoumayworkwithhimforyearswithouteverknowingwherehelives,howmanychildrenhehas,andwhathisinterestsare.Englishpeopletendtobelikethat.Iftheyaremakingajourneybybus,theywilldotheirbesttofindanemptyseat;ifbytrain,anemptycompartment.Iftheyhavetosharethecompartmentwithastranger,theymaytravelmanymileswithoutstartingaconversation.Ifaconversationdoesstart,personalquestionslike"Howoldareyou?

"oreven"Whatisyourname?

"arenoteasilyasked.Questionslike"Wheredidyoubuyyourwatch?

"or"Whatisyoursalary?

"arealmostimpossible.Similarly,conversationinBritainisingeneralquietandrestrainedandloudspeechisconsideredill-bred.

   Thisunwillingnesstocommunicatewithothersisanunfortunatequalityinsomeways,sinceittendstogivetheimpressionofcoldness,anditistruethattheEnglish（exceptperhapsintheNorth）arenotnotedfortheirgenerosityandhospitality.Ontheotherhand,theyareperfectlyhumanbehindtheirbarrierofreserve,andmaybequitepleasedwhenafriendlystrangerorforeignersucceedsforatimeinbreakingthebarrierdown.

  CloselyrelatedtoEnglishreserveisEnglishmodesty.Withintheirhearts,theEnglishareperhapsnolessconceitedthananybodyelse,butintheirrelationswithotherstheyvalueatleastashowofmodesty.Self-praiseisfelttobeill-bred.Ifapersonis,letussay,verygoodattennis,andsomeoneaskshimifheisagoodplayer,hewillseldomreply"Yes,"becausepeoplewillthinkhimconceited.Hewillprobablygiveananswerlike,"I'mnotbad,"or"Well,I'mverykeenontennis."Thisself-deprecationistypicallyEnglish,and,mixedwiththeirreserve,itoftenproducesasortofgeneralairofindifferencewhichappearstoforeignersdifficulttounderstandandevenirritating.

   ThefamousEnglishsenseofhumorissimilar.Itsstartingpointisself-deprecation,anditsgreatenemyisconceit.Itsidealistheabilitytolaughatoneself—atone'sownfaults,one'sownfailuresandembarrassments,evenatone'sownideals.Thecriticism,"Hehasnosenseofhumor,"isverycommonlyheardinBritain,wherehumorissohighlyprized.Asenseofhumorisanattitudetoliferatherthanthemereabilitytolaughatjokes.Thisattitudeisnevercruelordisrespectfulormalicious.TheEnglishdonotlaughatacrippleoramadman,atragedyoranhonorablefailure.Sympathyoradmirationforartisticskillarefelttobestrongerthanlaughter.

   Likeasenseofhumor,sportsmanshipisanEnglishidealwhichnotallEnglishmenliveupto.ItmustberealizedthatsportinitsmodernformisalmostentirelyaBritishinvention.Boxing,associationfootball,tennisandcricketwereallfirstorganizedandgivenrulesinBritain.Rulesaretheessenceofsport,andsportsmanshipistheabilitytopractiseasportinobediencetoitsrules,whilealsoshowinggenerositytoone'sopponentandgoodtemperindefeat.Moreover,sportsmanshipasanidealisappliedtolifeingeneral.Oneofthemostelementaryrulesoflifeis"neverhitamanwhenhe'sdown"─inotherwords,nevertakeadvantageofanotherperson'smisfortune.Englishschool-boysoftenshowthissenseofsportsmanshiptoasurprisinglyhighdegreeintheirrelationswitheachother.

   AnotherfeatureinBritainispoliteness.OnthewholeBritishhabitsofpolitenessareveryinformal.Allpolitenessisbasedontheelementaryruleofshowingconsiderationforothers,andacknowledgingtheconsiderationtheyshowtoyou."Excuseme"isusedasanadvanceapologyfortroublingsomebody,aswhenpassinginfrontofhimorinterruptinghisconversation,orwhenputtingaquestiontoastranger."Sorry"expressesregretforanaccidentaldisturbanceorbreachofmanners.Italsotakestheplaceof"no"whenyoucannotagreetoarequestoranimpliedrequestlike"MayIborrowyourpen?

"or"Doyouknowthetime?

"or"Haveyouanysizesevenshoes?

""Pardon?

"isthepolitewayofaskingsomebodytorepeatwhathehassaid.InBritain,exceptatschool,"please"isnolongerusedinaskingpermissiontospeak,andthephrase"No,please",socommonabroad,wouldsoundmostunusualinBritainitself."Yes,please"isthecommonestuseoftheword,andistheoppositeof"No,thankyou"whenreplyingtoanoffer.Abareyesornoisconsideredveryrudeinthiscase.Similarly,apoliterequestdoesnotbeginwith"Iwant"or"Ithink",butwithaphraselike"Will（orWould,Can,Could）youplease...?

"or"Wouldyoumind...?

"Whentherequestisgranted,andatanytimewhenyouarereceivingsomething,howeverobviouslyyouareentitledtoit,youarealwaysexpectedtosay"Thankyou".

   Britishpeopledonotreadilyaskeachothertodoanythingthatwouldinvolverealinconvenience:

theyprefertowaitforsuchservicetobeoffered,ratherthanaskforit.Iftheydoask,thentherequestisaccompaniedbyanimpliedapologylike,"Idon'treallylikeaskingyou,but..."or,"IknowthetroubleI'mcausingyou,butwouldyoumind...?

"andsoon.Similarlyitisoftenpolitetorefuseanofferofservicebymeansofsuchareplyas,"Oh!

pleasedon'tbother,"followedbyanexplanationofwhyyoucandowithoutit.Infact,withoutbeingconsciousofit,Britishpeoplesometimesmakeofferspurelyoutofpoliteness,notreallyexpectingthemtobeaccepted,andoffersofthiskindarerefusedwiththesamepoliteness.

   Ifyouareinvitedintoaperson'shome,thereareotherquestionstoconsider.Forinstance,whattimeshouldyouarrive?

Ifitisasocialoccasion,notabusinessone,itisnotpolitetoarriveearly.Yourhostesswillbepreparingforyou,andwillbemostembarrassedifyouarrivebeforesheisquiteready.Tenminuteslateisexcellent.Halfanhourlateisexcessiveandrequiresapologies.Thentoo,theBritishareratherparticularabouttablemanners.Themainthingis:

tositupstraight,copyeveryoneelse,gailyaskingwhattodoifyouarenotsure,andkeeptheconversationgoing.Whattimeshouldyouleave?

Therearenorules,butitismostimpolitetostaytoolate,asitimpliesalackofconsiderationforyourhosts.Ifitissimplyaninvitationtoaneveningmealandconversation,youwillprobablytakeyourleavebetweentenandeleveno'clock.Ifyouhavebeenaskedtostayforseveraldays,youwillconformasfaraspossibletotheroutineofthehouse,andyourhostesswillbeverypleasedifyougiveherabunchofflowers,speciallybought,beforeyouleave.

   Politenesstowardswomenislessobservedtodaythanitusedtobe.Itisstillconsideredpolitetogiveupone'sseattoawomanwhoisstanding,toopendoorsforher,helpheralightfromthebus,carrythingsforher,protectherfromthetraffic,andsoon,andthemaxim"Ladiesfirst"iswellknown.Butnowthatwomenaretheequalsofmeninhavingthevote,takingpaidemploymentandreceivinghighereducation,theyreceivemuchlessconsiderationthanformerly,forthewholebasisofpolitenesstowardswomenisthefeelingthattheyneedprotection.

   Thesameprincipleappliestooldpeople.IftheyarerespectedinBritain,itisbecausetheyarefelttobeinneedofprotectionandsupport.OldageandseniorityalonedonotcommandauthorityamongtheBritish,infactmodernlifehasbeendevelopingsofastthatoldpeopleoftenappeartiresomeandoutofdate.Thus,"Weneedsomeyoungblood"isoftenheardinorganizationswheretheenergyandmodernmethodsofyoungermenarefelttobemorelikelytosucceedthanthelongbutpartlyirrelevantexperienceofolderones.Thewisestoftheoldergenerationrealizethis.Theyeithermakeanefforttoremainyounginheartandkeeppace4withthetimesorelsetheyletyoungermentaketheirplace.

   ItfollowsthatmatureEuropeanshavenodesiretogrowoldortolookolderthantheyare.Womenespecially,forreasonsofsexualattraction,longto"stayyoung"andthereisnogreatercomplimenttoamaturewomanthantobetold"Howyoungyoulook!

"Ontheotherhand,ifawoman'shairstyle,make-upandclothesrevealanobviousefforttolookartificiallyyoung,sheissaidto"lookcommon,"andisregardedwithdisapproval.

（1528words）TOP

课文一

英国人的谨慎和礼貌

   在许多人看来，英国人极为礼貌，同他们交朋友很难。

但愿下列文字能够帮助你更好地了解英国人的性格特点。

   对于其他欧洲人来说，英国人最著名的特点是“谨慎”。

一个谨慎的人不太会和陌生人聊天，不会流露出太多的情感，并且很少会兴奋。

要了解一个谨慎的人并非易事；他从不告诉你有关他自己的任何事，也许你和他工作了几年，却连他住在哪儿，有几个孩子，兴趣是什么，都不知道。

英国人就有类似的倾向。

如果乘公共汽车去旅行，他们会尽量找一个没人坐的位子；如果是乘火车，他们会找一个没人的单间。

如果他们不得不与陌生人共用一个单间时，那么即使火车驶出了很多英里，他们也不会开口交谈。

一旦谈起来的话，他们不会轻易问及像“你多大年龄？

”或者甚至“你叫什么名字？

”等私人问题。

像“你的手表是在哪儿买的？

”或者“你的收入是多少？

”这样的问题几乎不可想象。

同样，在英国，人们交谈时一般声音都很轻、很有节制，大声谈话会被视为没有教养。

   在某种程度上，不愿意与他人交流是一种不幸的品质，因为它可能会给人造成态度冷淡的印象。

而事实上，英国人（也许除了北方人）并不以慷慨和好客而著称。

而另一方面，虽然谨慎使他们不易与人沟通,但他们内心还是很有人情味的。

如果一个陌生人或外国人友善地将这种隔阂打破那么一会儿，他们可能会满心欢喜。

   与英国人的谨慎紧密相连的品质是英国式的谦逊。

在内心深处，英国人可能比任何人都高傲，但是当他们与别人相处时，他们十分看重谦逊的品质，至少要表现出谦虚的样子。

自我标榜会被认为没有教养。

让我们假设，有一个人非常擅长打网球，但如果有人问他是否是个优秀选手时，他很少会说“是”，不然，人们会认为他很高傲。

他可能会作出类似这样的回答，“不算太差，”或者“嗯，我非常喜欢网球。

”这样的自我贬低是典型的英国式的。

而且当这一品质与他们的谨慎混合在一起时，常常形成一种漠然的气氛，这在外国人看来难于理解，甚至令人恼火。

   著名的英国人的幽默感也是大同小异。

它的出发点是自我贬低，它的最大对手是高傲，它的理想境界是自嘲的能力—嘲笑自己的错误、自己的失败